Problems

[MissDolittle]

One of the 2 babies keeps crawling off the heatingpad and wants to get cold,
is not feeling good at all. I put her back on Pedialyte, but does anybody have
an idea what could be wrong, what I could do? Everything appeared to be ok
last night, but this morning she was cold..but she drank a LOT of Pedialyte, no
sign of dehydration though.

[tiffany&pepper]

thats not good
my baby Male isn't doing well either
what is it a full moon
do you have a fanny pack you could put her in?
sounds silly but last thursday when my workers brought the baby grey to me I put him in a cotton (work) glove and stuffed him in my bra
good luck
SAndi

[muffinsquirrel]

I fix my babies a fleece pouch,(a kid's fleece cap from the GoodWill or resale shop, etc., works great), stuff a few more pieces of fleece in it, and put it on the floor of the cage. I put the heating pad on the table, put a cake cooling rack half on/half off the heating pad, then put the cage on the rack, and cover the whole cage with a piece of fabric to keep the heat in. That way it doesn't get too hot right under them, and the rest of the cage stays somewhat warm if they do wander. (Maybe he's into Feng Shui, and the vibes just aren't good where you want him to stay! hehe)

Good luck with them.

muffinsquirrel

[tiffany&pepper]

very smart idea
or maybe she having "hot flashes" lol
sandi

[island rehabber]

Miss Dolittle, is she pottying OK after you stimulate her, both peeing& pooping? If not she may be in decline and that's very bad. Don't let her get cold nomatter what...if she continues to crawl off the heat a vet visit may be in order. (Sorry!)

[MissDolittle]

Thanks for the fast replies!

I have it set up similiar to your arrangement, muffinsquirrel.

Island rehabber, yes pottying is going ok too, the stool is a bit loose, but it's
not diarrhea.

She seems to come around a bit now, stays cuddled up with her sister in the
pouch and is warm now. I'll offer pedialye evey hour now, and so far she's
just sucking it down like crazy.

[Secret Squirrel]

I have one baby also doing the same thing.
I heat a waterbottle (ziploc bag works too) and place the baby on the warm (I micro nuke mine) waterbottle. wrap the water bottle in a baby blanket or T-shirt first. I carry her around with me for a little while, while she is warming up.
Make sure the babys are in a small container...so they dont go to far, get cold and won't move! I also use a heating pad on low, place the container half on and half off the pad. But I don't use a wire rack, because it seems to warm better without....what ever works best for you.
Check the babys groin area where the legs meet the body. It should be nice and pink with vains visibal. Even with hair. If it's blue and you can hardly see the vains then the baby is way too cold. The cirulation slows down when baby gets cold. Heart is beating less reducing the blood flow.

FYI most new heating pads for humans have a 2 hour shut off feature for safety. (Wal-Mart)
How ever at a drug store ( CVS, Eckards) you can still purchase an ol' fashion one for under $10.00.

[MissDolittle]

Don't you hate those auto shut off heating pads??? I paid a bit more and
bought me some good ones with 6 levels and a shut off I can set for 2 hours
or turn it off completely. They are not made of plastic but soft fabric and
are machine washable.

I have the babies in something like this, but the larger part is the bottom part:



with lots of soft pieces of fabric and the smaller front part is off the heating
pad while the larger part is on it. They do not attempt to crawl out of it yet.

Thanks for the tip where I can look if they are too cold, I didn't know that!

[MissDolittle]

Update:

She is doing fine again, whatever that was this morning. She's a bit smaller
than her sister and doesn't have the eyes open yet, even though her sister
opened them 4 days ago. Is this normal or a reason for concern?

I figured it's the same as with humans, some are bigger than the others and
some develop faster than the others.

[island rehabber]

So glad to hear she's doing better! Hopefully by tomorrow she'll be ready for her formula again. As for the eyes opening, I've had siblings that didn't open their eyes in the same week so I don't think that's anything to worry about....do watch that this little one gains weight steadily, though, and that she is thriving. Good luck with all your squirrel babies!

[island rehabber]

very smart idea
or maybe she having "hot flashes" lol
sandi

Oh man, I can relate!!!! LOL

[nutz4squirls]

I think we all need to meet tonight in the rehab chat room to discuss squirrel problems. Is 7:30 alright with everyone that needs help. That's eastern time. Nutz (Chris)

[MissDolittle]

I'm in the chat already, but I'm not sure how long I can stay, still have a
husband who wants attention and caring too hehehe.

I just fed the babies again, one is doing marvelously, but the one from this
morning, after drinking 15 cc of pedidalyte every 3 hours, has diarrhea with
mucus AND is dehydrated after all this pedialyte???

I only know that when kittens have that, they usually have feline leukemia
and will decline slowly, it's never a good sign. What does it mean for squirrels?

I just love this forum, finally a place where I can go to with the little questions
and get help so fast if something is up, thank you thank you thank you .

[CliffordandDaisy'sDad]

MissDo, how is that baby doing today?

[Secret Squirrel]

If the baby is still dehydrated you may concidering doing SubQ. Some rehabers like the proccedure, some steer away form it. What is best for the baby is what matters. Do you know anyone in your area or vet that can administer the Ringers lactate by SubQ?
Good luck Momma...keep us posted!

[MissDolittle]

I will go to the vet tomorrow and see what she says, get some ringers too.
If she thinks it needs to go under the skin, I'll have her show me how to do
it right. But she is doing better, but all quite right. Thanks you all for your
concern .

[MissDolittle]

She had to be put down...she had a collapsed lunge and an infection she
probably got during the fall from that tree while it fell. She was too far gone
to do much about it, but shorten her suffering.
The vet did offer me a inhouse treatment, but I do not have $500 to cover
that. That vet is more interested in designer furniture in her waiting room
than the saving animals...grrrrrr.

Her sister is eating a piece of apple right now and hopping around, curls
the tail already, no worries there.

[Secret Squirrel]

Miss Doolittle,

It is sad to hear about the little girl. I am glad you took her to the vet, even though the outcome was a hard one. At least the baby suffers no more. God Bless you and everything you lay your hand to.

[Squerly]

I'm sorry Mrs. Doolittle. There seems to be just to damn much heartache going on around here lately.

[NatureGirl]

I'm sorry about the baby girl, MissDolittle. So sad. Squerly's right, there's just been to many deaths lately. My prayers are with you. I'm glad she didn't have to suffer anymore though. That's good, and now she's gone to join the other squirrels at the rainbow bridge. God Bless!